Conveyer.



P. LORILLARD.

GONVEYBR.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 25, 1907.

1,000,828. Patented Aug. 15, 1911.

3 SHEBTSSHEBT l.

WEN-F P. LORILLARD.

GONVBYER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 25, 1907.

Patented Aug. 15, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

P. LORILLARD.

Patented Aug. 15, 1911.

3 SHIRTS-SHEET 3.

PIERRE LORILLARD, 0F TUXEDO PARK, NEW YORK.

CONVEYER.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug 15, 1911.

Application filed July 25, 1907. Serial No. 385,459.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PIERRE LORILLARD, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Tuxedo Park, in the county of Orange and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Conveyers, of which the following is a speci fication.

This invention relates to conveyers of'the same general t pe as those forming the subject matter 0 U. S. Letters Patent Nos. 807,564 and 807,565, granted to me on the 19th daytof December, 1905, which conveyers are characterized by the employment of a number of parallel and laterally-adjacent conveyer sections arranged in sets, with the sections of each set interleaved between the other sections and adapted to provide collectively a supporting surface for the load, the sets of sections being so operated that their supporting surfaces are exposed above one another in sequence and are given a limited forward movement in the direction of conveyance while so exposed, followed by a return movement along a relatively depressed path, so that said sets of sections are successively operative for conveyance and are conjointly effective to transport a load in a predetermined direction from one end of the conveyer to the other. In each of the specific forms of conveyer illustrated in the aforesaid Letters Patent two such sets of conveyer sections are employed, and the construction and mode of operation is such that in order to secure a continuous and uniform forward movement of the load said sets are each necessarily subject to changes in linear velocity which, owing to their massiveness and consequent momentum, result in using power wastefully and tend to interfere with the smoothness and ease with which the apparatus should operate.

My present invention is primarily intended to overcome the objection above referred to without sacrificing the essential advantages of my prior construction, and to this end I construct the conveyer of at least three sets of conveyer sections laterally adjacent and provide operating means therefor whereby said sets are given cyclical or closedpath movements which are similar in form and extent but differ in phase, the timing of said cyclical movements being such that while each set of conveyer sect-ions is trav- Ward or effective movement one or the other ofthe two remaining sets is simultaneously and conjointly effective therewith, although traversing a different portion of .its path, with the result that although each set of sections occupies a longer time in traversing the return portion of its path than is occupied by its forward or effective movement yet it is possible to keep its linear velocity substantially constant and still have one or more of the sets of conveyer sections at all times effective for conveyance, as will be hereinafter more fully explained. By the expression linear velocity, as herein used, I refer to the actual velocity of the sets of conveyer sections along the closed paths in which the same are moved, as distinguished from the resolved velocity of said sets of sections in any particular direction.

My improvements also include certain structural features and details which will be hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings,Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan view illustrating a conveyer constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section through the conveyer, with parts broken away; and Fig. 3 is a cross section through the same. V

The conveyer shown in the drawing, which may be of any desired length, within practical limits of construction, has a fiat and longitudinally-continuous supporting surface, and is therefore adapted to serve as a horizontal conveyer, but the invention may be embodied as well in various other forms of conveyers, such for example as those shown in the Letters Patent above referred to.

Referring to the drawings, the letters A, B and 0 indicate a number of similar conveyer sections each of which extends horizontally from one end of the apparatus to the other, or substantially so, these sections being located side by side, parallel with one another, and arranged in three sets. The sections A form one set, the sections B form another set and the sections C form the other a set, and in lateral arrangement said sections succeed one another in the above order, so that between each two successive A sections, for example, there are located a B section and a C section, as many of the sections being employed as are required to give the conveyer the desired width. The upper ersing the first and last portions of a for- 4 edges of the sections of each set are located in the same plane and near enough to one another to provide collectively a supporting surface which will be sufliciently continuous to support whatever is intended to be con- 5 veyed, said sections being narrow transversely..

The details of the particular construction illustrated are shown in Figs. 2 and 3, according to which each of'the conveyer sections is composed of a double line of flat strips 2 riveted or otherwise secured to the opposite Vertical faces of the upper portions of a suitable number of supporting posts 3 and resting at their lower edges on shoulders 4 formed on said posts. Each of the posts 3 is located in transverse alinement .with the corresponding posts which carry the other conveyer sections of the same set, and rests upon and is bolted to the upper edge of a cross beam 5, being recessed at its lower end to receive the same as shown in Fig. 2. There are thus as many cross beams 5 as there are transverse lines of posts 3, and all these cross beams are supported on and rigidly' secured to horizontal and longitudinally-extending T-beams 6, of which there are one pair for each set of conveyer sections, the arrangement being such that all the cross beams 5 whichsupport the conveyer 80 sections of one set are carried by the same pair of T-beams 6. All the conveyer sections of each set are thus rigidly connected and combined to form a unitary structure or element, and 'the spacing of the parts above described is such as to permit the sections of each set to move freely between the adjacent sections, in parallelism therewith, as well as to have the longitudinal movements which are hereinafter described. The

40 cross beams 5 are also sufliciently elevated above the top surfaces of the T-beams which carry them, as by means of downwardly extending supporting portions 7 to permit said T-beams to have the relative upward and downward movements which the operation of the apparatus requires without bringing any pair of T-beams into contact with the cross beams which are carried by another pair.

The relative movements of the three sets of conveyer sections which render them operative for conveying purposes are preferably provided for as follows: The T-beams 6 are supported and adapted to run longitudinally on grooved rollers 8 carried respectively by similar rock arms 9, a pair of said rollers and rock arms being provided for each T-beam and located at suitable points to distribute the weight of the parts carried thereby. Each rock arm 9 is provided at its lower end with a sleeve 10 mounted to turn on a transversely-extending rod or bearing 11, and the rock arms corresponding to each T-beam are connected by a jointed link 12 to which is pivoted the upper end of an arm 13 pivotally mounted at its lower end on a fixed rod or bearing 14. Each arm 13 is provided with a roller 15 adapted to bear on the edge or cam face of a cam '16 secured to a shaft 17, which serves as the driving shaft, and the arrangement of the parts above described is such that all the rock arms 9 which correspond to a given set of conveyer sections are substantially parallel with one another, this parallelism being maintained 7 in all positions of said rock arms by pivoting the links 12 thereto at equal distance from the corresponding rods 11 and causing the corresponding cams 16 to operate in unison, as hereinafter explained.

All the rollers 8 are also located at equal distances from said rods, and the rock arms which carry said rollers are inclined some- What from a vertical position, as shown in Fig. 2, so that they tend to swing downward under the weight of the parts carried by the rollers 8 and thus to hold the rollers 15 in contact with the respective cams. It follows from this arrangement that the rotation of the driving shaft will cause the T- beams to rise and fall according to the contour of the cams 16, while the upper edges of the conveyer sections A, B and C which are carried by and move with the various pairs of said T-beams will be kept parallel with one another and with the horizontal direction of conveyance in all positions of said sections.

The T-beams 6 are reciprocated longitudinally on the corresponding rollers 8 by means of pairs of arms 18 each pivotally mounted at its lower end on another transverse rod or bearing 19 and notched at its upper end to receive a laterally-projecting pin 20 carried by the corresponding T- beam, each arm 18 being located at one side of one of the earns 16 and provided with a pin or roller 21 arranged to travel in a cam groove 22cut in one face of said cam. The transversely-extending rods 11, '14 and 19, as well as the driving shaft 17, are carried at their ends by a suitable framework. which is herein represented as consisting of longitudinally -extending side beams 23 supported at intervals on cross beams 24: which in turn may rest upon any suitable foundation.

All the cams 'above referred to are duplicates' of one another, both in respect to their peripheral contour and also in respect to their cam grooves, and the two cams which correspond to each set of conveyer sections and operate the longitudinally-extending T-beams which carry the same are also mounted on the driving shaft in like relation to a given diameter thereof, so that they operate in unison or as one cam, two cams being preferably employed in order to distribute the strains due to the weight and resistance of the moving parts. The pairs of cams which correspond to the three sets of conveyer sections, however, are secured to the driving shaft in dissimilar relation thereto, so that although the movements of the conveyer sections of the several sets are similar in respect to the paths which they traverse, yet these movements differ in phase, and preferably this difference is such that the phases of the three sets of sections are separated by one-third of a complete cyclical operation of the apparatus; in other words, assuming that each set of conveyer sections completes a cyclical movement during each full rotation of the driving shaft, like portions of the paths traversed by the three sets are reached by one set or another after each 120 of angular rotation of said shaft.

The parts above described are so proportioned and the several cams are so cut that upon the rotation of the driving shaft each set 'of conveyer sections in turn will be raised to its position of maximum elevation and given a longitudinal movement forwardly or in the direction of conveyance along the rollers which support it, at or near the end of which forward movement it will be depressed and then moved back to its first position, these movements being caused to take place at a uniform linear velocity, or substantially so. The three sets of conveyer sections thus move in like direction along similar closed paths having flatupper portions which are so determined as to cause the supporting surfaces of the conveyer sections to coincide with the predetermined plane of conveyance when in their position of maximum elevation, and by reason of the difference in phase in the operation of said sets of sections, in connection with the fact that each set moves at a uniform linear velocity, it follows thatwhen the supporting surface of any one set of sections reaches its position of maximum elevation the first portion of its forward movement in said position will coincide with the last portion of the forward move ment of that one of the sets of sections which precedes it in phase and will be operative for conveyance conjointly therewith, so that when the latter set begins its downward and backward movements the firstnamed set of sections will support the load and continue the conveying operation throughout the .rest of its forward movement. During the last portion of this forward movement the third set of sections will reach its position of maximum elevation and will act in conjunction with the first-named set of sections to support the load and convey the same until said firstnamed set of sections is depressed at the beginning of its return movement, whereupon said third set of sections will itself continue the conveying operation, the result being that the load being conveyed is continuously supported and propelled at a constant speed'in a forward direction by the success1ve operation of the three sets of sections. Each set is thus adapted to be moved at a uniform linear velocity even though the path of its return movement is longer than the path of its forward or effective movement, and said paths can also be so determined that abrupt changes in the direction of movement of the sets of sections will be avoided and the operation of the parts rendered smooth and free from shock or jar.

The construction of the conveyer above described is such that said conveyer is reversible, that is to say, it will operate in either direction according to the direction in which the driving shaft is rotated, and this is a desirable feature of the described construction although it is not to be regarded as essential. It is also to be understood'that my broad invention is not limited to this or any other specific construction of the conveyer sections or of the means for operating the same to obtain the desired result.

According to Fig. 1 of the drawings, the conveyer sections A, B and C are spaced apart by a distance slightly greater than their own width and are interleaved at one end of theconveyer with a like number of similar parts or sections A B and C, which may either be the bars of a stationary grated landing located at substantially the same elevation as the supporting surfaces of the conveyer sections themselves when in their positlon of maximum elevation, or they may be the sections of another conve er constructed like the one already descri ed and adapted to operate in connection therewith as set forth in another application for U. S. Letters Patent filed by me on the 16th day of April, 1907, Serial I claim as my invention:

1. A conveyer comprising a plurality of sets of interleaved and laterally adjacent conveyer sections, and means for moving the same in like direction along closed paths each having an upper portion extending in the direction of conveyance and a depressed return portion, said means being so timed that during the return movement of each set of sections the other sets are successively effective for conveyance.

2. A conveyer comprising a lurality of sets of interleaved and lateral y adjacent sections, and means for moving the same in like direction along closed paths each having a flat upper portion and a depressed return portion, sai means being so timed that during the return movement of each set of sections the other sets perform forward movements successively. v

3. A conveyer comprising three sets of interleaved and laterally adjacent conveyer sections, and means for moving the same in like direction along closed paths each having a flat upper portion and a depressed return portion, said means being so timed that during the return movement of each set of sections the other sets perform forward movements successively.

4. A conveyer comprising three sets of interleaved and laterally adjacent conveyer sections, each of said sets providing a fiat supporting surface, and means for elevating the supporting surface of each set of sections in turn toa predetermined plane of conveyance and for imparting thereto a forward movement in said plane, followed by a return movement along a depressed path, the first and last portions of the forward movement of each set of sections be ing coincident with a-portion of the forward movement of one or the other of the other sets of sections. 1

5. In a conveyer, a conveyer section comprising a series of upright posts each provided with laterally-extending supporting shoulders, and longitudinally-extending strips secured to the opposite sides of the upper portions of said posts and resting on said shoulders. v

6. In a conveyer, a set of conveyer sections each provided with downwardly-mo I tending supporting posts arranged in transversely-extending series, and cross beams to which said series of posts are rigidly secured, each of said posts being recessed at its lower end to embrace andrest upon its cross beam.

7. In a conveyer, a set of conveyer sections comprising transversely-extending cross beams and a series of posts carried by each cross beam and rigidly secured thereto in spaced relation, each post being recessed at its lower end to embrace and rest upon its cross beam and provided above the same with supporting shoulders, and longitudinally-extending strips secured to both'sides of the upper portions of said posts and resting on the shoulders thereof.

, 8. In a conveyer, a set of conveyer sections comprising transversely-extending cross beams and a series of posts carried by each cross beam and rigidly secured theretoin spaced relation, each post being recessed at its lower end to embrace and rest upon its cross beam and provided above the same with supporting shoulders, longitudinally extending strips secured to both sides of the upper portions of said posts and resting on the shoulders thereof, and a pairof longitudinally-extending beams on which said cross beams are supported at a distance above the upper surfaces thereof.

In testimony whereof, "I have hereunto subscribed my name this twenty-second day of July, 1907. v

PIERRE LORILLARD. 

